SUNDAY, MARCH 26,1967
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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SUNDAY, MARC!! 26, 1961 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAflU' 'PtVDVV
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US. Escalates as South
iet
ar Effort Subsides
By PETER ARNETT
SAIGON (A)-Once upon a time
the United States had no ground
troops in Vietnam, fielded only
military advisers to show the Viet-
namese how to win the war, and
quietly picked up the tab.
It was a little more than two
years ago.
Now the war has escalated into
largely an American conflict in-
volving 423,000 U.S. ground troops.
Art average 175 are flown home
dead each week. And the cost is
about $60 million a day.
Ironically, the war is de-escala-
ting for the Vietnamese army. The
regular Vietnamese forces per-
formed so indifferently in 1966
that the decision was made to
turn them over to the low-pressure
job of pacification.
As the Vietnamese began bowing
out, U.S. troops began bearing the
brunt of the war,
Up to two years ago the fervent
hope was that the Vietnamese
could beat the Viet Cong them-
selves with equipment support and
advisory help from the United
States.
By early 1965, 23,000 Americans
had been sent to Vietnam, flying
helicopters and war planes, keep-
ing logistics flowing in, and slog-
ging it out in the jungles and pad-
dyfields in their main job, ad-
vising the Vietnamese army.
In the old days Americans were
pushing the concept of counter-
insurgency, telling the Vietnam-
ese to fight at night, increase
their small-unit actions-become,
in fact, like the Viet Cong guer-
rillas they were hunting.
This concept was an early casu-
alty of the U.S. troop buildup. No
one mentions it any more. Opera-
tions get larger and larger. Viet
Cong units become so strong that
counterinsurgency tactics became
outdated. One of the reasons for
the increasing enemy strength was
Vietnamese failure to track down
small Viet Cong units in the early
years of the war.
As the Viet Cong began putting
the pressure on late in 1964, Viet-
namese units operated closer to
home. The Viet Cong came after
them, knocking out battalion after
battalion.
When the first U.S. ground
troops arrived on Vietnamese soil
their role was described as "a
limited one whose main purpose
is to free South Vietnamese troops
who have been serving in security
roles, so they can push the war
against the Viet Cong."
It is unlikely the Pentagon en-
visaged the extent of the conflict
that was to envelop U.S troops.
There was still official optimism
that the Vietnamese army could
be salvaged.
As 1965 rushed by more and
more Vietnamese units were de-
stroyed and morale fell. Direct
American commitment to battle
became imperative. This came
fairly slowly.
The Marines began with patrols
of 20-30 men, probing guerrillas
positions, extending positions.
Then they launched the first and
most successful amphibious assault'
of the war, Operation Starlight,
landing Marines on the beaches
south of Chu Lai in August, 1965,
and enveloping the enemy with
helicopter assaults.
The Marines have tried often
since to duplicate Starlight's suc-
cess, but a series of amphibious
assaults has had little enemy con-
tact-probably because the Viet-
namese high command knew in
advance. Leakage of classified in-
formation continues to be enorm-
ous.
The U.S. paratroopers began
operating near Saigon with one-
day helicopter operations, then
graduated to week-long affairs in
the tangled jungles of War Zone
D 30 miles northwest of Saigon.
This technique of gradually sea-
soning men has become common
practice in newly arriving Amer-
ican combat units.
The main battle of the war was
fought in November, 1965, when
U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division
troops tangled with a North Viet-
namese regiment in the Ia Drang
Valley. The Americans lost 240
killed and more than 500 wound-
ed; enemy casualties were esti-
mated at more than 1,000. This
head-on bloody clash sobered U.S.
commanders who thought they
could penetrate enemy strong-
holds at will.
The 1965 actions, and battles
early in 1966, were based on the
avowed necessity to "kill Cong."
The U.S. mission became one to
knock out main force enemy bat-
talions and regiments, leaving the
Vietnamese to cleanup local guer-
rillas. But lessons from the Ia
Drang hit home. The American
casualties suffered there and the
conventional manner of the battle
showed that maximum firepower
would be required in future ac-
tions.
By late 1966 more than one mil-
lion artillery shells were being
fired .monthly. Whole areas, par-
ticularly along the central coast
and the Viet Cong regions north
of Saigon, were pockmarked with
shell craters.
U.S. war planes and Nvay ships
added their firepower. B52s flying
out of Guam increased their raids.
U.S. infantry commanders as
a matter of course called in air
strikes and artillery whenever the
enemy was encountered, even
snipers. "This is the first war
where the infantry has supported
the air and artillery," one officer
commented.
The firepower of allied forces.
more than anything else, has
changed the war's nature.
In 1966 the United States began
fighting its own exclusive war,
basing operations on intelligence
gathered by Americans, and using
no Vietnamese troops. U.S. com-
mander stopped telling high-
ranking Vietnamese about most
upcoming operations for fear the
Viet Cong would find out in ad-
vance.
As more American troops ar-
rived, the need for even more be-
comes obvious. At least one more
Marine division could be gainfully
employed along the demilitarized
zone, strategists say. Two more
could easily be absorbed in the
Mekong Delta, an additional di-
vision would aid military opera-
tions in War Zones C and D in the
3rd Corps, and another two could
roam about the central highlands
without fear of tripping over each
other.
The need for these troops has
become imperative because of the
nature of the enemy and the tech-
nique of fighting him. At no time
in the war has the Viet Cong and
North Vietnamese enemy been
hard pressed by allied forces.
The U.S. Marines have yet to
make a real fight of it in the
DMZ. They have not attempted to
push the North Vietnamese units
back across the border, and in
fact there are probably not enough
Marines around to do it success-
fully at this point.
As the American direct troop
involvement moves into its third
year, it is obvious that no answer,
other than annihilation by bomb-
ing, has been found to beat the
Viet Cong.
One technique is to move into a
Viet Cong area, remove all the
people to resettlement villages,
and burn and destroy every living
thing.
Other Americans say this is
foolhardy. At least a third of Viet-
nam's 15 million population would
have to be resettled for this policy
to succeed. The Saigon govern-
ment has trouble coping with the
million refugees that have come
in during the past two years.
But this "scorched earth" tech-
nique is the main one being used
in the Vietnam war today. Amer-
ican military operations are longer
in duration because the supply
program has been fairly well
solved. The conflict can be pro-
longed as long as there is backing
at home for it.
And the enormous firepower is
getting stronger.
An American civilian mission
worker said recently, "We have
badly underestimated the enemy's
willingness to take tremendous
casualties and to put up with the
most terrible hardships."
The communist enemy may also
have underestimated the ability
of the United States to inflict tre-
mendous casualties and hardships
upon them.
The war seems to have escalated
into a titanic duel between U.S.
firepower and technological might
and enemy detemination. The end
is nowhere in sight.
VIETNAMESE ELECTIONS:
U.S. Opposes Rigging
In Favor of Military
Make Breakthroughs
In Pollution Control
LEADERS EXPRESS FEAR:
Chicago Demonstrations May
Jeopardize Rights Legislation
WASHINGTON (P) - The U.S.
government is taking a hands-off
policy on whether Saigon's mili-
tary leaders should run for office
in the forthcoming South Vietna-
mese elections.
At the same time, responsible
U.S. officials are strongly opposed
to any rigging of the elections in
favor of the military junta.
Secretary of State Dean Rusk:
reaffirmed the U.S. position yes-
terday in a brief airport interview
following his return from a speak-,
ing date at Cornell University.
Self-Determination
Rusk said the South Vietnamese
people should be allowed to exer-
cise what he termed their ele-
mentary right to determine their
own future "without having the
question decided for them by force
from North Vietnam."
"We are .not taking a positionj
on any candidates," Rusk said.
"We are not selecting candidates."
The South Vietnamese Consti-
tuent Assembiy has drawn up a
new constitution after which a
president, vice president and a
Senate and House of Representa-
tives are to be elected this fall to
replace the current military re-
gime headed by Gen. Nguyen Van
Thieu, chief of state, and air
* force commander Nguyen Cao Ky,
premier.
Two Reasons
Washington authorities cited
two main reasons for opposing any
election rigging:
A major enefit in shifting
from military to constitutional
civilian rule in South Vietnam,
from the U.S. standpoint, would
be creation in Saigon of a govern-
ment presumably would be more
stable and more effective against
the Communists.
Rigged elections would tend to
put in office persons with less
popular support. Therefore, the
electoral processes should be car-
ried out as fairly as possible in
order to reflect correctly the de-
sires of the voters.
Damaging Charges
* Unfair elections would inspire
damaging charges abroad that the
new Saigon government does not
really represent the people. Com-
munist propaganda has repeatedly
portrayed the present Saigon re-
gime as a U.S. puppet.
It is widely expected here that
Ky, Thieu or others in the top
South Vietnamese officer ranks
will bid for places in the next
government. ,
However, the Vietnamese lead-
ers themselves have made the
point that any from their ranks
who run for office will be doing
so as individuals, rather than as
candidates of the armed forces.,
Some U.S. strategists privately
would not be unhappy to see Ky
or Thieu run successfully in the
Vietnamese election. They figure
that this would merge the armed
forces' military power with the
popular will, producing strong and
broad based leadership in Saigon.
Conversely, the U.S. authorities
do not want to see high military
officers running against each
other for the same post. They fig-
ure this would prove divisive
among the armed forces. Ky and
Thieu have indicated they would
not run against each other.
One of the possibilities looked
for here is a combination military-
civilian slate-that is, a mixture
of civilians and military men in
the top positions of president, vice
president and premier..
WASHINGTON OF) -The
Health, Education and Welfare
Department made what it sees as
two significant breakthroughs last
week toward control of air pol-
lution.
But Secretary of Welfare John
W. Gardner conceded yesterday
there is great need for improved
technology for dealing with sulfur
oxides-a key factor in any effort
to clean up the air.
And Gardner said in an inter-
view that he doesn't think the
coal and oil industries have work-
ed as hard as they should in this
critical area.
Major Actions.
Gardner took three major ac-
tions toward the air pollution con-
trol last week:
-He approved publication of
precedent-setting "air quality cri-
teria for sulfur oxides" which may
be used by state and local govern-
ments in efforts to move toward
fixing of air quality standards and
drafting of pollution enforcement
measures.
--He announced recommenda-
tions for abatement of both sulfur
oxide and carbon monoxide inter-
state air pollution in the New
York - Northern New Jersey area.
This was the first time such rec-
ommendations had been approved
for so large a geographical area,
17 counties in the two states.
Final Regulations
-He approved final regulations
for control of sulfur oxide pollu-
tion from fuel burning at federal
installations in the New York,
Chicago and Philadelphia city
areas. These had been announced
in proposed form last October.
The publication of the criteria
and approval of -abatement rec-
ommendations for the New York-
New Jersey area are regarded by
Gardner as major breakthroughs.
"We must now put the greatest
possible energy into advancing
the technology for removing sul-
fur from fuels and extracting sul-
fur oxides from combustion gases
so that these standards can be
met as widely as possible," Gard-
ner said.
Coal Industry
Asked whether he thinks that
the criteria will have an adverse
effect on the coal industry, as
contended in protests from in-
dustry spokesmen, the secretary
said:
"I believe that if we press hard
enough and rapidly enough in ad-
vancing this technology there will
not be ill effects on the coal in-
dustry.
"But I am frank to say I do not
feel the fuel industries-oil and
coal - have pressed as hard as
they should press on the tech-
nology of air pollution control.
"We certainly intend to redou-
ble our efforts in research and
development."
The criteria are the first in a
series on major pollutants. They
are designed to pave the way for
state and local governments to
develop air-quality standards as a
basis from which to move toward
effective control of sulfur emis-
sions. They are not mandatory.
WASHINGTON (P)-Supporters
of President Johnson's new civil
rights legislation fear its already
thin chances could be jeopardized
by new demonstrations in Chi-
cago, promised by Dr. Martin
Luthef King Jr.
And they are concerned that
the program, including a hotly,
debated open housing provision,
may further be endangered by the
case of Adam Clayton Powell.
Most of the leaders said, in a
series of telephone interviews, they,
fear C h i c a g o demonstrations
might produce white backlash
around the nation.
Violently Attacked
Demonstrators led by King and
others into white Chicago neigh-
borhoods last summer were vio-
lently attacked, especially in the
suburb of Cicero. King says they
would march into Cicero again
this year.
"I think it's stupid," said one
civil rights leader who asked not
to be named. "It is possible to
dramatize the thing in some other
communities where people are not
as belligerent as in Cicero. It's
likely to produce an explosion."
The Washington director of the
National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People,
Clarence Mitchell Jr., said, "I'm
deeply concerned"' about King's
plans.
Well-Coordinated
He said he believes civil rights
strategy "at this stage should be
well-coordinated. I fear this was
planned without consideration of
its possible effect on civil rights
legislation."
Even the most optimistic sup-
porters of the new civil rights bill
readily concede that all conditions
must be right if the measure -
particularly the open housing sec-
tion-is to pass.
Among the necessiites is the
support of Senate Republican
Leader Everett M. Dirksen of Illi-
nois, who last year refused to
support a move to break a fili-
buster on a similar civil rights bill.
That bill, passed by the House,
died in the Senate.
May Lose Support
Backers of this year's measure
fear that outbreaks of violence in
Chicago, in Dirksen's home state,
might make it impossible to get
his support.
James A. Hamilton, director of
the Washington office of the Na-
tional Council of Churches, says
that if King leads new demonstra-
tions "it is not going to make the
possible passage ngore likely." And
he said he believes the Powell case
already has stirred new anti-
Negro feelings. Powell, a New York
Negro, was excluded from the
House March 1. A select investiga-
tive committee had found him
guilty of misuse of government
funds, and of "gross misconduct."
'No Effect'
Sen. Walter F. Mondale (D-
Minn.), sponsor of the Senate bill
on open housing, was unavailable
for comment on King's statement.
Earlier, he had said the Powell
case should have "no effect what-
ever" on the chances of the civil
rights measure.
But he conceded that "for those
who are undiscriminating enough
to think that if one member of a
race misbehaves, everyone does,
it could."
Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.)
a Negro and member of the select
committee on Powell, said "the
racism that has been stirred up
about the Powell case is going to
spill over into anticivil rights bill
sentiment."
'BAND'S I nterested
in' Performing for I HA I
Federal Reserve Board May
Lower Rates To Ease Credit
&
RES. HALL Functions
WASHINGTON (AP)-Speculation
has reached a new peak that the
Federal Reserve Board is on the
threshold of a dramatic easing of
credit through a lowering of the
discount rate.
World News Roundup
By The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.-U.N.
Secretary-General U Thant was
reported yesterday to have given
eight governments a paper pro-
posing settlement of the war in
Vietnam by simultaneously stop-
ping military action and starting
talks.
Diplomatic sources said the
paper had gone to the United
States, North Vietnam and South
Vietnam as belligerants; Britain
and the Soviet Union as co-chair-
men of the 1954 Geneva confer-
ence on Indochina, and Canada,
India and Poland as members of
the International Control Com-
mission policing the 1954 Geneva
accords.
A U.S. delegation spokesman de-
clined to comment on a published
report that the United States had
accepted Thant's new suggestions
"in principle" or another report
that the United States had replied
with "somewhere between a full
acceptance and a full rejection."
He would not even say whether
there had been a U.S. reply.
* *
SAIGON-A blaze of bloody ac-
tion in the northern sector has
wound up Holy Week in Vietnam.
Combat conditions permitting,
Easter services were scheduled
throughout U.S. field units today.
The U.S. command said Mar-
ines, bombers and field guns killed
146 North Vietnamese regulars
over a 48-hour period in fights
that centered largely around Con
Thien mountain, three miles south
of the demilitarized zone.
But in its tradition, the board
has refused to comment one way
or another on.any action it might
be contemplating.
A lowering of interest rates this
week by some banks on loans to
their best corporate customers-
the so-called prime rate-sparked
new speculation in Wall Street of
a possible lowering of the discount
rate.
The discount rate is the charge
made by the Federal Reserve for
money borrowed from the system
by its member banks.
Other interest rates are pegged
upward from the prime and dis-
count rates.
Some banks, led by the Bank
of America of San Francisco and
the Morgan Guaranty Trust Co.
of New York, lowered their prime
rate this week from 5.75 per cent
to 5.5. per cent.
But this is still far above he
current discount rate of 4.5 per
cent.
It was a rise in the discount rate
from 4 to 4.5 per cent in Decem-
ber of 1965, however, which trig-
gered last year's tight-money con-
ditions. The board said it took the
action to stem inflationary press-
ure.
Following the discount rate rise
in December of 1965, banks raised
their prime rate from 4.5 to 5 per
cent. But it subsequently rose as
high as 6 per cent in late summer
and turned down only in recent
months.
Some banks have resisted the
latest drop in the prime rate, in-
sisting loan demand is still heavy.
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DR. ELIEZER SCHWEID
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